- Windows 10 is an operating system.An operating system is the core software on your computer.It's the platform, or foundation, that supportsevery operation on your computer.It defines the interface on your system.In a way, you can think of it as the personalityof your computer.As operating systems, Windows 10, Linux, and Mac OS10all do basically the same things.But it's the interface, the design, and the layoutof the controls in these operating systems,that make them feel completely different from each other.

Even though we're talking about Windows 10 in this course,I wanna start by setting up some core analogiesthat will help you understand how operating systems work,in general.So let's start by thinking about your computeras if it were your office.And in my office, the place that I usually startis at my desk.Looking at the surface of my desk, I have a few thingsthat I always need at arms reach.My telephone, my pencil jar, my stapler,and probably some documents that I knowI'll be working with today.

The analogy to your computer here is pretty clear.The first thing that you see on your computeris your desktop.That's the empty screen that's underneath everything elseon your computer and it's the only thing that you seewhen you don't have any windows open.Now it's important to mention here that Windowsruns on tablets and smartphones, as well ason desktop computers.On phones and tablets, the desktopis not your starting point.Instead, you'll start on the start screen.Now we're gonna talk about that as we go through the coursebut for the most part, we'll be focusing on Windowsfor desktop computers.

So for now, we'll talk about the desktopas the foundation and we can think of the Start menu,or the Start screen, as part of the desktop.Now you can also store files and folderson your desktop but just like your real world desktop,I recommend that you keep only a few thingsthat you need quick access to.Generally, it's not a great idea to storeeverything you need directly on your desktop.Just like your real world desktop, it's very easyfor your computer desktop to get really messyand cluttered to the point where you can't find anything.

Besides, there's a much better system in placeto take care of all that clutter.And once you make the decision to use it,you can keep things very well organized.So what is the system that we useto keep our files organized?Well that's our next analogy.Here in my office, if I get too many filesand documents sitting on my desk, eventually I'm goingto want to file away documents that I'm not using right now.So I file those things away in my filing cabinet.Every single document that's important to mecan be stored in this filing cabinet.

And I can set up a logical order so that anyof those documents can be found quickly.So where is the filing cabinet on your Windows computer?Well the filing cabinet is your hard driveand you access it using the File Explorer.Even if you have five hard drives connectedto your computer, you always get to themusing File Explorer.You can think of File Explorer like an application,like Microsoft Word or your web browser.But the focus of this application is to browseall of the files and folders on your computer,to organize everything that you have storedin your system.

So let's take a moment here to look at howyou can get to File Explorer on your computer.Now down here at the bottom of my screen,you'll see the Task bar, this dark barwith a few icons in it.And we'll be talking more about the Task bar very soon.Now you may have an icon for File Explorer pinnedto the Task bar, which gives you quick access to it.I can just click on this and it'll launch the File Explorer.Now of course we'll be talking about pinningand removing items from the Task barlater in the course as well.

Now if you do not have the icon for File Explorerpinned to the Task bar, you can go down in to the Start menuby hitting the Start button in the bottom, left corner,and there's an option right here for the File Explorer.So this of course will open up the File Explorer windowwhich I have right here.And you can use this to browsethrough all of your files and folders.So I could go in to my Documents folderand I could access some files there.Or I could go in to my Pictures folderand open up some folders and access files there.And of course you can use File Explorerto get things organized to copy and move things around.

And there's gonna be an entire chapter dedicatedto File Explorer which we'll get in to later in the course.Now the third thing that I want to establishis the idea of running applications on your computer.For most people, this is the most important part.Usually when you sit down at your computer,it's because you want to use an applicationlike the web browser or a document editorlike Microsoft Word or the Photo Library,something like that.If you are the boss in your office,then you can think of each of these applicationslike your employees.

Now my analogy breaks down a little bit herebecause all of your applications are stored somewhereinside of your computers hard drive.But in the real world, you don't keep your employeesin a filing cabinet.Nevertheless, on your computer, you need a wayto interface with your applications.Just like at your office, you need to communicatewith all of your employees.So as we learn Windows, we're gonna talk about things,like the Task bar, which we've already seen,where you can launch some of your applications.So I could click on this icon here to launchmy web browser, Microsoft Edge.

As we go through the course, we'll also talkabout the Start Menu where you can goto launch more applications.So I could launch the Weather applicationright here from this tile.Or I could go back in to my Start menu,go in to All apps, and then I have a master listof all of the applications on my computer.So I could go to my Microsoft Office folder,if I have Microsoft Office installed,and maybe launch Microsoft Word from here.And of course in this course we'll talk about multitasking.So you can switch between several applicationsthat are currently running.

We'll use stuff like the Task viewto tile out multiple windows and then click on the windowthat you want to be the active applicationon the top of the stack.So that's just a quick introduction to the Task bar,the Start menu, and multitasking, which also finishesoff the analogies that I want you to keep in mindas we go through this course.I hope that this helps you to think about the featuresof Windows 10 framed as working with parts of your office.You'll get plenty of opportunity to spend some timewith each of these features that we just had a glimpse atas we go through the rest of this course.

But this should give you a pretty good ideaof what an operating system, like Windows 10, is,and what its capabilities are if you did not already know.For the rest of this chapter, we'll talk aboutgetting your Windows 10 computer set up.And then in the next few chapters,we'll dive deeper individually in to the desktop,in to File Explorer and with working with applications.

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Author

Updated

5/2/2017

Released

7/29/2015

Please be aware that there was a significant update to Windows in August 2016, called the Anniversary Update. If you are using Windows after running the Anniversary Update, you should switch over to a different course, Windows 10 Anniversary Update Essential Training.

Learn all the essential features of Windows 10. This comprehensive course covers everything you need to know to install Windows, customize it to your liking, and start working with files and applications. Author Nick Brazzi shows how to manage folders, use Cortana to search and navigate, browse the web with the new Microsoft Edge browser, and work with Mail, Calendars, and People (aka contacts).

Plus, learn about sharing via a home network, multiuser configurations, security and privacy, and troubleshooting Windows.

Topics include:

Installing or upgrading to Windows 10

Connecting to the Internet

Launching, quitting, and managing applications

Creating, copying, moving, and renaming files and folders

Zipping and unzipping files

Using Cortana to search

Browsing the web with Edge

Sending email

Installing new apps

Sharing files over home networks

Backing up and restoring files

Configuring Windows updates

Using Windows Defender

Skill Level Appropriate for all

8h

Duration

1,228,271

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Q: This course was updated on 05/02/2017. What changed?

A: A new video was added that helps you confirm which version of Windows 10 you’re running, to ensure that you’re choosing the right training course.